| 695C |
Muretus, Marc Antonio.
(1526-1585)
M. Antonii Mvreti Presbyteri, i.c. et civis
Romani, Oratoris ac Poetæ clarissimi, Epistolæ, Hymnisacri,
et Poemata Omnia.
Lyons, 1613.
$350
Octavo, 4.5 x 3.23 in. A-Z8 (lacking Z8 final blank). This book is
bound in full contemporary vellum, with ties removed. The binding
is in very good condition. This edition is bound in its original leather
binding which is by now rather worn. The gilt spine is faded and the
leather is missing from the head and tail of the spine about a quarter
inch from the head and about an inch from the tail is missing. The
leather is also worn away from the corners. The first three blanks
of pages are rather ragged, however, the title page and subsequent
pages are in good condition. The edges of the pages are speckled in
red. "Ciceronian style was admirably represented by Muretus,
a native of France, who spent the last thirty years of his life in
Italy. In Venice he produced editions of Terence and Horace, as well
as Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius; and in Rome (as well as in Venice)
he edited and expounded various portions of Cicero. His "Variae
Lectiones" and his "Orationes" were long regarded as
perfect models for modern Latin prose. Scaliger describes Muretus
as desiring to imitate the diffuseness of the modern Italians, but
he also places him second in style to Cicero alone. During the twenty
years in which he lectured under severe restrictions in Rome, he foresaw
the decline of learning in Italy and made every effort to arrest it.
"In the lucidity and the diffuseness of his Latin, and in other
ways, Muretus had a close resemblance to the scholars trained by the
Jesuits." (Sandys CLS)
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| 845c |
Nider, Johannes. (ca.
1380-1438)
Præceptorium divinae legis sive Expositio
Decalogi.
Augsburg: Anton Sorg, 'circiter' 24 May 1475.
$17,000
Folio, 265x193 mm. Fourth Edition. First printed in 1470. [A-B10,C8
(7+1): first leaf blank, Index; D-H10, I8 (7+1), K-T10, V8, X-Z10,
Aa8, Bb-Gg10, Hh10 (9+1): text] 303 leaves of 305, lacking 2 blank
leaves. This book is bound in 16th century German blind-tooled vellum
over wooden boards decorated with various fillets and four roles,
outer role forming a stylized wreath, a second role of heads-in-medallion,
surrounding a central oval device depicting a robed figure on the
front cover and a diaper pattern on the back. Remnants of clasps remain,
The book has a quarter morocco folding case.
It is printed in black Gothic type with large hand-inked red initials
and red infill throughout the text. There is some water staining on
the central leaves. This copy contains the stub of a cancelled leaf
following leaf 294. This is the second book printed by the noted Augsburg
printer Anton Sorg. A popular book in the 15th century, it went through
eighteen editions before 1500. In this book, Nider presents a careful
interpretation of the decalogue for confessors and preachers.
Born in Swabia, Johannes Nider "entered the Order of Preachers
at Colmar and after profession was sent to Vienna for his philosophical
studies, which he finished at Cologne where he was ordained. He gained
a wide reputation in Germany as a preacher and was active at the Council
of Constance. After making a study of the convents in his order of
strict observance in Italy he returned to Vienna where in 1425 he
began teaching as Master of Theology. Elected prior of the Dominican
convent at Nuremberg in 1427, he successively served as socius to
his master master general and vicar of the reformed convents of the
German province. In this capacity he maintained his early reputation
of reformer and in 1431 he was chosen prior of the convent of strict
observance at Basle. He became identified with the Council of Basle
as theologian and legate, making several embassies to the Hussites
at the command of Cardinal Julian. Sent as legate of the Council to
the Bohemians he succeeded in pacifying them.... He resumed his theological
lectures at Vienna in 1436 and was twice elected dean of the university
before his death. As a reformer her was foremost in Germany and welcomed
as such both by his own order and by the Fathers of the Council of
Basle. As a theologian his adherence to the principles of St. Thomas
and his practical methods made him distinguished among his contemporaries."
(CE vol.XI)
In his struggle against the Hussites, it is stated that "having
tried argument without success, he resorted to violent persecution,
and was responsible for the death of thousands." (Thomas)
The provenance of this book is as follows: Franciscans of St. Bernardinus,
Amberg (17th century inscription, fo. 2r; their stamp of a cross with
SBA in a circle, top edge); noted English collector Sir George Holford
(1890-1926) (printed slip "tThe property of..., sold by order
of his executors").
BMC II 342; Goff N199; Hain*11789; Proctor 1642.
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| 464A |
Otway, Thomas . (1652-85)
The Atheist or, the second part of the
Souldiers Fortune. acted at the Duke's Theatre.
London: R. Bentley, and J. Tonson, 1684
$400
Quarto , 8.5 x 6.3 in. First edition. The Souldiers Fortune, was written
in 1681, and Downes states that " It took extraordinarily well"
in 1681-2 Otway composed 'Venice Preserved', which desreved the great
aclain it recieved, this was followed by Otway's last comedy 'The
Atheist' a portion of the plot is derived from the novel "The
invisible Mistress."
Wing O-541.
594A Fleetwood, William. (1656-1723) Inscriptionum Antiquarum sylloge
In Duas Partes Distributa. Quarum Prior Inscriptiones Ethnicas Singulares
& Rariores penè omnes continet, quæ hactenus innotuerunt
omnia complectitur. In Usum Juventutis Rerum Antiquarum studiosæ
Edita, & notis quibusdam Illustrata. A Guil. Fleetwood, Coll.
regal. apud Cantab. Socio. London: Impensis Guil. Graves, Bibliopolæ
Cantabrigiensis, & Prostant apud Tim. Childe, ad Insigne Cervi
albi in Cœmeterio D. Pauli, 1691. $450 Octavo, 7.6 x 4.7 in.
First edition. A-Y8, Z2, [*]4, Z3-8, Aa-Mm8, Nn2. This copy is in
good condition. The title is printed in red and black. A few leaves
were crumpled right at the top and have minor paper repairs. The binding
is contemporary Dutch vellum over stiff boards, still in very good
condition. This is an ex-library copy, and the Earl of Sunderland's
copy, with his shelf number (E9 23 716.9) on the pastedown. "Fleetwood's
reading was wide and his learning accurate. Browne Willis terms him
a 'general scholar,' and one specially 'versed in antiquities.' His
first work besides occasional sermons was a collection of pagan and
Christian inscriptions, illustrated with notes, chiefly original,
entitled, 'Inscriptionum Antiquarum Sylloge' (1691). […] In both
of his dioceses [Windsor, and Ely, where he was bishop] Fleetwood
secured the love and esteem of his clergy, in spite of opinions generally
unpalatable to them. Few bishops have left a more unspotted reputation
behind them. He endeavored to dispense his patronage to the most deserving
without regard to personal influence. He always refused to enter into
personal controversy. When attacked he would say: 'I write my own
sense as well as I can. If it be right it will support itself; if
it be not it is fit it should sink.' He liberally assisted his clergy
with money, books, and in the remission of their fees. As a preacher
his style is dignified, but simple, with much calmness of expression
and clearness of thought." (DNB)
Wing F-1247; TC II 348.
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| 116C |
Plater, Felix. (1536-1614)
Felicis Plateri Archiatri et Profes. Basil.
Praxeos Seu de cognoscendis, praeditendis, praecavendis, curandisq,
affectibus homini in commodantibus, Tractatus Tertius et Ultimus.
De Vitiis, Libris duobus agens: quorum primus Corporis: secundus Excretorum
vitia continet. Singula illorum Symptomata, in generibus: Morbos eorumq
Causas, in causis: & Curam in curatione prononens. Omnia methodo
nova, sed facili & perspicua, hactnusq, diu desiderata, descripta:
nec solum veterum neotericorumq; sed & propriis observationibus,
ac rediis innumetis referta.
Basel: Typis Conradi Waldkirchii, 1609
$500
Octavo, 6.75 x 4.5 in. First published in 1602. ):(8, )):((4, a-z8,
A-Z8, Aa-Vv8. 1028 leaves. This volume is bound in seventeenth-century
vellum, laced case construction, with yapp edges. Its joints are worn,
but otherwise in good condition. "F. Plateri De Vitiis"
is written on the spine in modern hand. There are slight wormholes
that do not in any fashion affect the text. Felix Plater was born
in Basel where he "lectured and practiced with success."
(Thomas) He was "an eminent physician" whose works were
frequently reprinted and often cited by later authors, such as Hermann
Grube. (Watt)
His 'Praxeos' was a three volume work concerned with injury and sickness.
The first two volumes dealt, respectively, with sickness in the body
and in bodily excretions. This final volume addresses individual illnesses
in order: the sickness (its symptoms), the cause and the cure. The
chapters include descriptions of discoloration, deformation, throwing
up, bloody excretions, and many other health problems. Plater provides
simple remedies for common problems. In the case of vomiting, he says:
"Cum per vomitiones materia aliqua, que per hanc viam utiliter,
nonnunquam & necessario expurgatur, e corpore educitur, illa minime
compesci, immo si non sufficienter fiat promoueri potius debet"
(When there is other material in vomit, and unfortunately it comes
along that route, it must always be purged and led out of the body,
and it ought to be repressed at least, if ever that is not done sufficiently
then it ought to be moved more powerfully).
Watt, p. 761.
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| 241C |
Prudentius, Aurelius
Clemens. (348-circa 410)
Avrelii Prvdentii Clementis. Viri Consvlaris.
Psychomachia. Cathemerinon. Peristephanon. Apotheosis. Hamartigenia.
Contra Symmachum, præfectu[m] urbis, libri duo. Enchiridion
Noui & Veteris testamenti. In calce adiecta sunt aliquot scholia,
per Ioannem Sichardum. Cum gratia & priuilegio Cæsareo.
[Basel: Apvd And. Cratandrvm, Mense Martio. Anno, 1527
$750
Octavo, 6 x 4 in. Edited by Joannes Sichardus (1499-1552), who also
edited the works of Quintilian, the Codex Justinian and the Codex
Theodosiani. A-Z8, Aa-Ff8, Gg4. The final leaf is blank, but for a
woodcut of Fortuna on the verso. This copy is bound in nineteenth-century
quarter-calf over paper boards. It is a very nice copy with only light
damp-staining on the first few pages, never affecting the text. "Prudentius
is, along with Paulinus of Nola, the most important figure in Christian
poetry. The 'Cathemerinon' includes six songs to be sung daily at
certain moments of the day; six other are for particular Christian
holidays or festivals. Thus the life of the believer is articulated
rhythmically, from dawn to night and in accordance with the principal
occasions of the year. […] Both the 'Cathemerinon' and the 'Peristephanon'
contain valuable information on the customs of the Christians, their
aspirations, and the new poetics that compares itself with that ancient
poetics without the shyness produced by reverence, since the excellence
of the subjects compensates amply for the personal limitations of
the poets. Hence comes the intention to compete with the classics,
in the certainty of proving superior to them by the help of God. Prudentius
chooses as model and rival Horace, from whose odes he takes many of
the meters adopted in the hymns, as well as many images and phrases.
He no longer has the mythology, but in its stead he uses biblical
tales or the sometimes fantastic narratives of the martyrs. Prudentius'
hymns enjoyed great popularity and success, and they were used for
centuries in the liturgy of the church. From the literary point of
view as well, these are works of primary importance. […] Of the
three poems, the most complex and most successful is the 'Psychomachia,'
the combat between the vices and the virtues in the human soul, with
the epic description of duels between Faith and Idolatry, Chastity
and Lust, Patience and Anger, Humility and Arrogance." (Conte)
Adams P-2180.
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| 775c |
Parr, Elnathan. (d.
1632)
The Grounds of Divinitie. Plainely discovering
the Mysteries of Christian Religion, propounded in Questions and Answers:
Substantially prooved by Scriptures; Expounded faithfully, according
to the writings of the best Divines, and evidently applyed by profitable
uses. To the which is prefixed a very profitable treatise, contayning
an Exhortation to the Study of the Word. Corrected and Enlarged by
Elnathan Parr, Minister of the Word.
London, Printed for Samvel Man, at the Signe of the Swan in St. Pauls
churchyard. 1636.
$400
Duodecimo, 3x5 in. Eighth Edition A4, B-Z12, Aa12, B7 Bound in contemporary
full vellum which has shrunk and detached itself over the years. The
book is rumpled and the final leaf of the text has been repaired with
a loss of about one dozen words. Elnathan Parr, educated at Eton and
King's College, Cambridge, was "presented to the rectory of Palgrave,
Suffolk, a benefice which belonged to the Cornwallis family. Several
letters to and from him are printed in the 'Private correspondence
of Jane, Lady Cornwallis,' London, 1842, 8 vo. ... Tom Martin, the
antiquary notes that a portrait of Parr was preserved at Earl Cornwallis's
seat, Broome Hall, Suffolk, and adds that he himself had another at
Palgrave." Aside from 'The Grounds of Divinitie,' Parr's works
include 'Latin Hexameter Verses on the Death of Dr. William Whitaker,'
(1595) which is printed in vol. 1 of Whitaker's 'Opera Theologica'
and several expositions on 'The Epistle to the Romanes.' (DNB)
STC. 19318
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| 841c |
Pascal, Blaise. (1623-1662)
Les Provinciales, ou Les Lettres ecrites
par Louis de Montalte, a un Provincial de ses amis, et aux RR. PP.
Jesuites. Dixieme Edition, corrigee & augmentee de la Lettre d'un
Avocat du Parlement a un de ses Amis.
Cologne: chez Nicolas Schoute, 1597. Misimprint,
the correct date is 1697.
$600
Duodecimo, 3x5.5 in. Tenth Edition *12, A-S12 This book is bound in
full contemporary calfskin. The binding of the spine is gilted and
worn. The pages have some browning and spotting but nothing that impairs
legibility. Pascal was a "French religious philosopher and mathematician...
The earliest anecdote of Pascal is one of his being bewitched and
freed from the spell by the witch with strange ceremonies. His mother
died when he was about four years old and left him with two sisters-
Gilberte, who afterwards married M. Perier and and Jacqueline....
At Rouen they became acquainted with Corneille, and Blaise pursued
his studies with such vehemence that he already showed signs of an
injured constitution." (EB)
"But the world soon became distasteful to him [Pascal], and he
felt more and more impelled to abandon it. During the night of 23
November 1654, his doubts were settled by a sort of vision, the evidence
of which is in a writing, always subsequently carried in the lining
of his coat, and called 'Pascal's talisman.' After this he practiced
the most austere asceticism, renounced learning, and became the constant
guest of Port Royal. In 1656 he undertook the defense of Jansenism,
and published the 'Provinciales.' This polemical work was nearing
completion when Pascal had the joy of seeing his friends, the Duc
de Roannez and the jurisconsult Domat, converted to Jansenism, as
well as his niece Marguerite Perier, who had been cured of a fistula
of the eye by contact with a relic of the Holy Thorn preserved at
Port Royal... But Pascal's two masterpieces are the "Provinciales"
and the "Pensees." The occasion of the "Provinciales"
was an accident. The Duc de Liancourt, a friend of Port Royal, having
been refused absolution by the cure of Saint Sulpice, Antoine Arnauld
wrote two letters which were censured by the Sorbonne. He wished to
appeal to the public in a pamphlet which he submitted to his friends,
but they found it too heavy and theological. He then said to Pascal:
"You who are young, you must do something." The next day
(23 January 1656) Pascal brought the first "Provinciale."
The "Petites lettres" followed to the number of nineteen,
the last unfinished, from January, 1656, to March, 1657. Appearing
under the pseudonym of Louis de Montalte, they were published at Cologne
in 1657 as "Les Provinciales, ou Lettres ecrites par Louis de
Montalte a un provincial de ses amis et au RR. PP. Jesuites sur le
sujet de la morale et de la politique de ces peres." The first
four treat the dogmatic question which forms the basis of Jansensism
on the agreement between grace and human liberty. Pascal answers it
by practically, if not theoretically, denying sufficient grace and
liberty. The seventeenth and eighteenth letters take up the same questions,
but with noteworthy qualifications. From the fourth to the sixteenth
Pascal censures the Jesuit moral code, or rather the casuistry, first,
by depicting a naif Jesuit who, through silly vanity, reveals to him
the pretended secrets of the Jesuit policy, and then by direct invective
against the Jesuits themselves. The most famous are the fourth, on
sins of ignorance, and the thirteenth, on homicide."
"That Pascal intended this to be a useful work, his whole life
bears witness, as do his deathbed declarations. His good faith cannot
seriously be doubted, but some of his methods are more questionable.
Without ever seriously altering his citations from the casuists, as
he has sometimes been wrongfully accused of doing, he arranges them
somewhat disingenuously; he simplifies complicated questions excessively,
and, in setting forth the solutions of the casuists sometimes lets
his own bias interfere. But the gravest reproach against him is, first,
that he unjustly blamed the Society of Jesus, attacking it exclusively,
and attributing to it a desire to lower the Christian ideal and to
soften down the moral code in the interest of its policy; then that
he discredited casuistry itself by refusing to recognize its legitimacy
or, in certain cases, its necessity, so that notonly the Jesuits,
but religion itself suffered by this strife, which contributed to
hasten the condemnation of certain lax theories by the Church. And,
without wishing or even knowing it, Pascal furnished weapons on the
one hand to unbelievers and adversaries of the Church and on the other
to the partisans of independent morality. As to their literary form,
the "Provinciales" are, in point of time, the first prose
masterpiece of the French language, in their satirical humor and passionate
eloquence."
"On 24 May, 1656, Blaise Pascal published the first of his "Provinciales."
The five propositions of Jansenius having been condemned by papal
authority, Pascal could no longer defend them openly, and found the
most effective method of retaliation was satire, raillery, and countercharge
against the Society. He concluded with the usual evasion that Jansenius
did not write in the sense attributed to him by the pope. The "Provinciales"
were the first noteworthy example in the French language of satire
written in studiously polite and moderate terms; and their great literary
merit appealed powerfully to the French love of cleverness. Too light
to be effectively answered by refutations, they were at the same time
sufficiently envenomed to do great and lasting harm; although they
have frequently been proved to misrepresent the teaching of the Jesuits
by omissions, alterations, interpolations, and false contexts."
(the above quoted from the Catholic Encyclopedia volume XI page 511,
volume XIV, page 89.
See Graesse vol. 5, 145; See Brunet vol.
3, 642.
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| 810c |
Potter, John. (1674-1747)
Archaeologiae Graecae: Or, The Antiquities of Greece. By John Potter,
M.A. and Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxon.
Oxford: vol. 1, Printed at the Theater,
for Abel Swall; and to be Sold by Timothy Childe at the Whitehart
at the West-end of St. Paul's Church-yard, London, 1699. vol. 2, Printed
at the Theater, for Timothy Child at the White-hart, and John Jones
at the Dolphin and Crown, in St. Paul's Church-yard, London, 1699.
$1,100
Quarto, 2 vol., each 4.5x7.3 in. Second Edition of vol. 1; First Edition
of vol. 2 Two separately bound volumes. vol. 1: þ4, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4,
Aaa-Lll4; vol. 2: þ4, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Eee4, Fff2. The title pages
are engraved and there are 30 engraved plated (11 folding) throughout
the text. These books are bound in contemporary calfskin with a pretty
stamped design. The spines have lettering in gilt. The leaves have
some minor browning but overall are in good condition. The 'Archaeologica
Graeca' is divided into two volumes. The first volume is described
as "Containing I. The Civil Government of Athens. II. The Religion
of Greece." In this volume, Potter outlines laws, court proceedings,
and the state government. Included in this book are chapters concerning
Athenian punishments, sepulchres and funerals, usury and money, and
marriage and divorces. In the part on religion are chapters concerning
various games as well as divination and oracles. Volume Two concerns
"I. The Military Affairs of the Grecians, II. Some of their Miscellany
Customs." In this book military maneuvers are described and delineated
on engravings. Pay for soldiers and the organization of campgrounds
are also described.
"John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the son of a linen-draper
at Wakefield, Yorkshire.... At the age of fourteen he entered University
College, and in 1693 he published notes on Plutarch's 'De audiendis
poetis' and Basil's 'Oratio ad juvenes.' In 1694 he was elected fellow
of Lincoln College, and in 1697 his edition of Lycophron appeared.
It was followed by his Archaeologica graeca, the popularity of which
endured till the advent of Dr. William Smith's dictionaries. A reprint
of Lycophron in 1702 was dedicated to Graevius, and the Antiquities
was afterwards published in Latin in the 'Thesaurus' of Grovonius."
(EB)
Wing P3031; Wing P3032. |
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| 363A |
Regenvolscius [a.k.a.
Wegierski], Adrianus. (1600-1649)
System Historico-Chronologicvm, Ecclesiarum
Slavonicarum per Provincias varias, Præcipuè, Poloniæ,
Bohemiæ, Litvaniæ, | Rvssiæ, Prvssiæ, Moraviæ.
&c. Distinctarum. Libris IV Adornatum; Continens Historiam Ecclesiasticam,
à Christo & Apostolorum tempore, ad An. Dom. M DC L. Opera
Adriani Regenvolscii E. P.
Utrecht: Ex Officina Johannis a Waesberge, Bibliopolæ, 1652
$530
Quarto, 7.5 x 4.4 in. The preface is dated 1651. .•. 4, .•.
.•.1, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Rrr4. The title page is printed in red
and black, with a woodcut printer's vignette. This copy is bound in
contemporary parchment, laced case construction. The signature of
Johannes Nicolas Sellius, dated 1654, appears on the title and the
front free end leaf. Two other ink signatures have been scratched
out on the title, and the blue inked stamp of S. Pavischevic is also
printed on the title. This book is a history of the spread of the
reformation in Poland, Bohemia, Lithuania, Russia, Prussia, and Moravia.
The first section is dedicated to the origin and succession of the
church in the Slavonic countries of eastern Europe starting in the
year 1000. Peter Valdo, the twelfth century French Reformer who founded
the sect of the Waldenses is discussed, along with Wycliffe in England,
and the reformation led by John Huss in Bohemia. Regenvolscius discusses
all of the Hussite sects in Bohemia from the time of their founder
to 1517. The history of the reformation in Germany led by Luther and
Zwingli from 1517 to 1650 (the present day for our author) is also
fully described. The first section ends with a discussion of the reformation
in Poland.
The second section concerns itself with the persecution of all of
the groups mentioned in the first part, in the same time periods and
geographical regions. In the third part, we are given the names and
biographies of the key religious adherents and pastors of the reformation
in the Slavonic countries, organized as above. This section is quite
fascinating to read and doubtlessly holds important biographical information
on many figures from the reformation in eastern Europe that may have
been obscured in the passage of time. The fourth section is about
the Greco-Russian or Orthodox tradition of the church in Eastern Europe.
Estreicher, Vol. 32, pp. 289-291.
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